🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. They tell you what kind of square you’re reading. Where you actually track progress is your Prepared Patient Course and the Skills Lab.
📘 Learn It Content type
Concepts to absorb.
🛠 Live It Content type
Daily skills and habits.
📣 Share It Content type
Teach, advocate, carry forward.
🛡️Your Force Field — 16 Squares
Read each square. Deeper detail for each lives in the Prepared Patient Pulmonary Embolism (PE) course.
What a PE Actually Is
A clot in the pulmonary artery. Can be small or massive. Anticoagulation prevents recurrence.
Learn ItWhy You're on a Blood Thinner
Prevents new clots. Duration depends on whether yours was provoked.
Learn ItSpot a New PE
Sudden severe SOB · sharp chest pain with breath · cough up blood · syncope — 911.
Learn ItTriggers
Long immobility, surgery, hormones, smoking, dehydration, clotting disorders.
Learn ItProvoked vs Unprovoked
Same as DVT. Drives how long you stay on anticoagulation.
Learn ItAnticoagulant Adherence
Daily, on time. Major bleed risk if doubled. Stop only with team OK.
Live ItSymptoms to Watch
Persistent shortness of breath weeks later may mean lingering clot. Tell your team.
Live ItReturn to Activity
Slowly. Cardiopulmonary rehab if you had a large PE.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Bring your med list, breathing log, any swelling notes.
Live ItYour Care Team
PCP + pulmonologist + hematologist for complex cases.
Live ItTelehealth
Most follow-up can be telehealth.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
DOACs costly; assistance programs exist.
Live ItSurgery, Pregnancy
Both need careful anticoagulation planning.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
PE survivors carry knowledge worth sharing.
Share ItAdvocate
Hospital VTE prophylaxis saves lives. Push for it.
Share ItResearch & Trials
Newer agents, IVC filter retrieval studies, post-PE syndrome research.
Share ItThree things to learn before you actually need them.
This is the teaching. Workflow lives in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers in your Course.
Which door do I use?
PE survivors live with vigilance about lungs and bleeding. The ladder helps you balance both.
Handle at home
- Stable baseline; usual mild exertional breathlessness if any
- Following anticoagulant schedule
- No new symptoms
Log it. Take meds on time.
Call the office / message the portal
- Mild new shortness of breath that wasn’t there before
- Running low on anticoagulant
- Bruising more than usual
- Missed or doubled doses
Same day. PE recurrence is what we’re preventing.
Urgent / Acute care
- Worsening shortness of breath
- Chest discomfort that’s new
- Leg swelling (new DVT)
- Heavy menstrual bleeding on anticoagulant
Urgent care. Workup matters.
ER NOW / call 911
- Sudden severe shortness of breath
- Sharp chest pain worse with breathing
- Coughing up blood
- Fainting
- Fast heart rate with lightheadedness
- Major bleed on anticoagulant
- Stroke signs
Call 911. PE recurrence is a high-risk event.
How to describe a new symptom in 30 seconds
Six questions clinicians listen for every time.
What is it?
Plain words.
How bad?
0-10.
When did it start?
Time + what you were doing.
What made it worse?
Movement · food · meds.
What helped?
Even a little.
What else was new?
Fever · med · supplement · stress. The forgotten detail often shifts the diagnosis.
“Shortness of breath came on this morning, a 7, worse with stairs, sharp chest pain on inhalation, sitting helps a little, and my left calf has been swollen for two days.”
Questions worth asking — what good questions look like
Four that apply to every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for Pulmonary Embolism (PE):
- “How long do I stay on anticoagulation — provoked vs unprovoked?”
- “Should I be screened for clotting disorders?”
- “What activity is safe — especially travel?”
- “If I need surgery, what’s our anticoagulation plan around it?”
- “Should I have an IVC filter — and if I have one, when does it come out?”